We weren't the only shallow people there. Readers report on convention highlights. Or whatever:
• Overheard outside the CNN greenroom:
Op-ed columnist: " Barak Obama is like the black Colin Powell."Journalist: "What?"
Op-ed columnist: "Oh -- ha -- I mean the Democratic Colin Powell".
Journalist: "First one's better."
• Overheard outside the skanky McDonald's: "I was standing behind Janeane Garofalo at the security check. . . And I'm pretty sure I saw them confiscate her patchouli."
• A cock-up to the very end: "On the afternoon/evening of July 30, passengers on the 3, 4, 5 and 6 o'clock US Airways shuttles from Boston to DC arrived to find that none of their luggage had been loaded onto the planes. Among those waiting for bags were Judy Woodruff and Paul Begala. Sadly, the inconvenienced political and media types were pretty well behaved. Petulant cries of 'Do you know who I am?' were distressingly rare, though not completely absent."
• "You pretty much couldn't spit in Boston this past week without your saliva landing on a 'famous-for-DC' peep. So I will not bore you with my laundry list of Heinz/Rather/Davis/O'Reilly/Gore sightings (coincidentally all within the 4 Seasons!!). I would like to note however, that Friday morning, as I basked in post-convention glow with a ciggie outside the BU dorms, I saw The Daily Show's Rob Corddry coming out of the mini-market located on campus. I pointed and rather loudly exclaimed to my co-worker-slash-BU roommate 'Look! There is Rob Corddry! The bald guy from the Daily Show!' Corddry gave me what I can only describe as a deathstare and returned to the BU confines. I thought those guys were supposed to always be friggin' funny?"
• All from one ambitious heckler:
• Thursday afternoon, 3-ish. The elusive Bob Shrum, hiding in plain sight at an outdoor table at Au Bon Pain at the Boston Park Plaza, pounding away at a laptop with a young aide. Me: "Hey Bob, how's the speech coming?"• An hour or so later, leaving the Four Seasons bar, my friend asks Joe Klein how he thinks the convention's going. Klein (very sour face): "It's been completely taken over by the consultants." Me: "You say that like it's a bad thing!" (This really set him off.)
• Winner of the Chuck Schumer "Self Absorbed Much?" Award: Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, muscling his way onto the podium after the speech and hogging the clutch with Kerry, just weeks after taking to the cameras to slam Kerry ("It's not a leadership move") for honoring the picket line at the Conference of Mayors.
• Runner up: Chuck Schumer, walking to the front of the NY Delegation to lead them in cheers ("Hey New York!!!! Are we having a great convention! Yeahhhhhh!!!") oblivious to Senator Lieberman giving his speech -- he did this throughout the convention. Incredibly rude asshole.
